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So.... i got my sea legs back and 5 minutes later i was humping out into the black.

New scanning interface Question- I know you can still just honk, do you get more dosh for a full mapping, and then even more for mapping a high value world?

Yes. Little bit of money for a honk. Additional money if you scan the objects remotely in the Discovery Scanner. Max money if you go to a planet and use the Detailed Surface Scanner probes to map the surface. With certain types of planets worth much more than others.

Just remember that half the people you meet are below average intelligence.

So.... i got my sea legs back and 5 minutes later i was humping out into the black.

New scanning interface Question- I know you can still just honk, do you get more dosh for a full mapping, and then even more for mapping a high value world?

Yes. Little bit of money for a honk. Additional money if you scan the objects remotely in the Discovery Scanner. Max money if you go to a planet and use the Detailed Surface Scanner probes to map the surface. With certain types of planets worth much more than others.

Earth Like Worlds $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Chief Wiggum: "Ladies, please. All our founding fathers, astronauts, and World Series heroes have been either drunk or on cocaine."

A discovery scanner honk will now give you sensor returns on the new scanning mode. You then further resolve these returns using the info the scan gave you to figure out what kind of planets are out there. You no longer have to fly to a planet and scan it to get the planet type and basic info about it, as well as the first discovery tag if you’re the first to scan the planet.

You can get additional credits by flying to the planet and launching probes to map its surface. This will give you info the old detail surface scanner used to give, in addition to mapping out surface points of interest on the planet. You also get a first mapped by tag if you’re rhe first to completely map its surface with probes.

I'm just starting out with this game and exploration. What is a honk? Is a discovery scanner something I need to buy additional to other scanners? And how do you do a detailed surface scan?

A honk is using a discovery scanner, on account of the noise it makes. Discovery scanners are ship equipment that you can get upgrades for, though I think most ships do come with one pre-installed.

The Discovery Scanner is just built into the ship now, there's no longer separate modules for it. I.e., ignore all the tutorials and posts that tell you to go get an "Advanced Discovery Scanner", they don't exist. The Detailed Surface Scanner is a module you need to buy and that one is the one that shoots probes for surface mapping.

What's the difference between using a discovery scanner and the scanning of unexplored planets in system?

Currently how I've been scanning is targeting an unexplored planet and flying at super cruise to it until it completes the scan. Sorry for the noob questions.

You've got your initial "honk", which is firing off the pulse for the Discovery Scanner. You can do that either with your UI in Discovery mode (vs Combat mode) and if you've assigned the Discovery Scanner to a Fire Group. Or you can enter Discovery Scanner mode and fire it off with a button in there. The 'honk' tells you how many bodies are in the system.

Once you've honked, you then use the little radio dial along the bottom to tune left-to-right to a frequency that has a signal (vertical jagged lines). Each group represents a different type of object. Gas giants on the right, USS's on the far left, rocky bodies in the middle, etc. You then sweep your reticle around the system (generally stick to the orbital plane) to locate a signal on that frequency. When you are close, you will see many white arrows surrounding your reticle that converge the closer you are and point you towards the target. If you are over a target, you may still not be exactly on the right frequecy, so fine tune until you get a small white solid-line circle. You can then zoom in on that target to scan the object. There are many levels of zoom depending on how close together objects are, so you may have to drill down farther. There can be multiple objects on each zoom level, the white arrows pointing in different directions in that case. Once you've scanned all the objects of a given type, that frequency will disappear on the tuning bar. You can also keep track with the X out of Y count in the upper right.

This remote scanning gives exactly the same result as flying directly at a planet and letting it auto scan for you. It's just that you can generally do the entire system from a single spot and not waste time flying around everywhere. This scanning changes the listing for the planet in the System map from Unexplored to listing the type of planet, for example Water World. This scanning is what can give you the "First Discovered by" credit.

For surface mapping, you have to fly close to the planet and use the Detailed Surface Scanner to launch probes at the planet. There's a bonus if you can get 100% coverage with the number of probes listed in the bottom right, but every planet can be easily done with 6. Fire one directly at the center of the planet, fire one each to the right, left, top and bottom out away from the planet, lining up your reticle with the short white line that crosses the line extending from the center of the planet. That will make them land right on the horizon. The last one you need to fire roughly 1/2 to 2/3rds of the way between that white cross line and the end of the line where is says "Miss". This will drop the last probe roughly in the center of the back side of the planet for 100%. If you change the "view" in the bottom right of the DSS to the rear view of the planet, the first 5 probes that are easy to do should leave a square of unscanned area. The last probe should hit roughly in the center of that area, but if not, you can use that to fine-tune your aim. Once you've done it a few times, you can squeeze off all 6 in just a few seconds. Surface scanning is what can give you the "First Mapped by" credit.

SiliconStew on January 21

Just remember that half the people you meet are below average intelligence.

Oh and one other thing. If you've done the Discovery scanning and are still missing a couple bodies, go into the System map, select one that still says Undiscovered. Exit the map and point your ship towards the selected target. Enter scan mode again and the object will be near the center of your scan reticle already.

Just remember that half the people you meet are below average intelligence.

So, I dug my HOTAS out and popped on my Rift to do a little flying last night. Went and did a passenger run that was some 30 odd jumps. Then, before heading back, I remembered the 'Get me there /now/' setting on the Galaxy map... 7 jumps back. Was still awesome.

What's the difference between using a discovery scanner and the scanning of unexplored planets in system?

Currently how I've been scanning is targeting an unexplored planet and flying at super cruise to it until it completes the scan. Sorry for the noob questions.

Once you've honked, you then use the little radio dial along the bottom to tune left-to-right to a frequency that has a signal (vertical jagged lines). Each group represents a different type of object. Gas giants on the right, USS's on the far left, rocky bodies in the middle, etc. You then sweep your reticle around the system (generally stick to the orbital plane) to locate a signal on that frequency. When you are close, you will see many white arrows surrounding your reticle that converge the closer you are and point you towards the target. If you are over a target, you may still not be exactly on the right frequecy, so fine tune until you get a small white solid-line circle. You can then zoom in on that target to scan the object. There are many levels of zoom depending on how close together objects are, so you may have to drill down farther. There can be multiple objects on each zoom level, the white arrows pointing in different directions in that case. Once you've scanned all the objects of a given type, that frequency will disappear on the tuning bar. You can also keep track with the X out of Y count in the upper right.

This post was super helpful thank you! I spent last night doing lots of exploring and planet scanning. I made about a million credits turning in about 5 or so systems worth of data. That was pretty exciting for me.

However, the quoted text above I just couldn't figure out. I don't see a radio dial at all. Does this require a substantially better scanner? Is there another mode toggle I need to flip before this becomes available?

I ended up still just flying towards each planet to explore it, then surface scanning while at the planet.

What's the difference between using a discovery scanner and the scanning of unexplored planets in system?

Currently how I've been scanning is targeting an unexplored planet and flying at super cruise to it until it completes the scan. Sorry for the noob questions.

Once you've honked, you then use the little radio dial along the bottom to tune left-to-right to a frequency that has a signal (vertical jagged lines). Each group represents a different type of object. Gas giants on the right, USS's on the far left, rocky bodies in the middle, etc. You then sweep your reticle around the system (generally stick to the orbital plane) to locate a signal on that frequency. When you are close, you will see many white arrows surrounding your reticle that converge the closer you are and point you towards the target. If you are over a target, you may still not be exactly on the right frequecy, so fine tune until you get a small white solid-line circle. You can then zoom in on that target to scan the object. There are many levels of zoom depending on how close together objects are, so you may have to drill down farther. There can be multiple objects on each zoom level, the white arrows pointing in different directions in that case. Once you've scanned all the objects of a given type, that frequency will disappear on the tuning bar. You can also keep track with the X out of Y count in the upper right.

This post was super helpful thank you! I spent last night doing lots of exploring and planet scanning. I made about a million credits turning in about 5 or so systems worth of data. That was pretty exciting for me.

However, the quoted text above I just couldn't figure out. I don't see a radio dial at all. Does this require a substantially better scanner? Is there another mode toggle I need to flip before this becomes available?

I ended up still just flying towards each planet to explore it, then surface scanning while at the planet.

When you are in the actual Discovery Scanner screen, default key is "single quote" ('), in the bottom half of the screen is a horizontal graph that says "Filtered Spectral Analysis". If you look at the bottom of the screen, it will tell you the keys/controls to use for "Tuning", mine is bound to the twist axis on my joystick. You use the Tuning controls to move the white vertical target line left and right on that graph to tune to the frequencies required.

There is a straight horizontal line through that graph representing a baseline no-signal level. Along that line at various spots you will see it change to vertical jagged line, indicating a signal. Tune to one of the signals, sweep your reticle around the system, following the directional arrows to get on top of one, then fine tune to lock on so the target is a white solid line circle. If you don't tune the exact frequency, you cannot lock onto the target to be able to zoom into it to scan it. You are scanning it when you are zoomed in enough to see the actual planet and not just the circle icon. Objects in the Discovery screen will be a hazy blue blob if your tuning is way off, a light grey or dashed circle if you are close to the right frequency, and a solid white circle if you are dead on.

So my conception of travel distance and such in this is still completely lacking.

As far as I'm aware, the galaxy map is ridiculously huge, but inhabited space / the place where most people congregate is comparatively much smaller?

So if I did want to join a wing with you guys and let you cackle as I get blown up a lot, how hard is it to link up? Will it take hours to get to eachother?

Populated space, ie "the Bubble", is a rough sphere centered around earth that's a few hundred light years across. If you have a good long jumper ship with at least a 40-50 ly jump range, then you can cross the bubble in a few dozen minutes or so depending on fueling times. In my experience 30 ly jump range is about the minimum to be able to take mostly straight routes that utilize most of your stride with each jump. If you are in some kind of combat ship with lackluster jump ranges of 20 or less, then travel times are ridiculous since you'll need to take a circuitous route as well.

There is a second "bubble" centered around a distant colony known as Colonia. IIRC it's a few dozen thousand light years away from earth and I can't be arsed to go there.

The trip to Jaques' station (as someone who was there in the early days, i still don't like the name Colonia and what went down with the establishment of the second bubble :-/) is worth doing at least once. With modern engineering, neutron boosts, and way-stations along the route, it can be done in a play-session and is not the mind-numbing slog/real exploration expedition it once was. Some very beautiful sights along the way, and the regions closer to the core is a very different place.

Speaking of exploration, is it "Krait Phantom in front of things" now? :-) Just a random screen I saw somewhere, consider it todays random screenshot.

I fired the game up, had to spend some time rebinding everything, and was immediately fucking lost with no clue where the hell I was, what I was originally doing there, or where I should go. I think I need to find a player faction or something like that to help provide a little direction to my space adventures tbh

I fired the game up, had to spend some time rebinding everything, and was immediately fucking lost with no clue where the hell I was, what I was originally doing there, or where I should go. I think I need to find a player faction or something like that to help provide a little direction to my space adventures tbh

Good news! We have one \o/

Shamelessly copying Tim from discord:
If anyone wants something to do, the player faction I made "Ghosts of the Federation" is at a civil war so head to Obambojas and fight for the ghosts!

Alright yeah it sounds like my current Viper MK 4 isn't quiiite up to the task of meeting up with people to shoot, and I should continue living in my small bubble of high danger resource extraction sites for now.

Alright yeah it sounds like my current Viper MK 4 isn't quiiite up to the task of meeting up with people to shoot, and I should continue living in my small bubble of high danger resource extraction sites for now.

If you have some credits you can build a cheap long jumper by stripping a hauler down to just an A rated fsd and a big fuel scoop. Upgraded to D rated equipment for all other mandatory equipment in order to further minimize weight. No shields. You can then arrange to have your viper fed-exed to you when you arrive at your destination.

Honestly though, I wouldn't bother fedexing the viper. The viper mkiv and the rare cobra MK IV both pretty much suck at everything. Unless you have some deep sentimental attachment to the ship, I'd recommend selling it in its entirety to help you purchase pretty much anything else. The cobra MK III is a better combat ship, a better trade ship, and better jumper. It's cheaper too. The viper Mk III is way better than the Mk IV if you just love the vipers looks.

Alright yeah it sounds like my current Viper MK 4 isn't quiiite up to the task of meeting up with people to shoot, and I should continue living in my small bubble of high danger resource extraction sites for now.

If you have some credits you can build a cheap long jumper by stripping a hauler down to just an A rated fsd and a big fuel scoop. Upgraded to D rated equipment for all other mandatory equipment in order to further minimize weight. No shields. You can then arrange to have your viper fed-exed to you when you arrive at your destination.

Honestly though, I wouldn't bother fedexing the viper. The viper mkiv and the rare cobra MK IV both pretty much suck at everything. Unless you have some deep sentimental attachment to the ship, I'd recommend selling it in its entirety to help you purchase pretty much anything else. The cobra MK III is a better combat ship, a better trade ship, and better jumper. It's cheaper too. The viper Mk III is way better than the Mk IV if you just love the vipers looks.

There appears to be hella disagreement on the last point. It wasn't an overwhelming majority by any means, but after checking 10 or so different threads and articles discussing the three ships the general consensus was that the viper MKIV is a better pure combat ship than the Cobra MK III, and both are better than the Viper MK III as a combat ship or an all around ship. They indicated that if I wasn't just doing pure combat as I am now, that the Cobra MK III edges it out due to being a lot better in non-combat areas

I haven't flown a Cobra, but I had a Viper MK III and was looking at it alongside the Viper MK IV as an upgrade. Thus far the extra tankiness of the MK IV has edged out my MK III for combat usability -- I still have some upgrades to go on the MK IV, but even without 4A shield generators it's been a noticeable upgrade from the III. The decreased mobility has been noticeable but not jarringly so -- I still very rarely have a ship on my tail that I can't shake, despite really knowing nothing about how to be good at space dogfighting.

I should emphasize "general consensus", because it was pretty split. Overall people seemed to prefer the Cobra MK III, but whenever the discussion was narrowed to "just blowing stuff up" it was pretty heavily in the favor of the Viper MK IV.

I was waffling between the two but then saw that I had somehow bought a Viper MK IV in some past life, so I shipped it to me and switched over.

It's been a while since I've flown the Vipers, but if I remember right the Viper III's main attraction is that it's noticeably more maneuverable than the IV so it's a lot easier to just sit behind a target and shred it but if you can get used to the IV's mass then it's a better pick.

I'm gonna tell you that those people lauding the viper MK IV are straight up wrong. From the beginning that ship was a phoned in hack job to pad the new ship count. The viper's principle advantage is its agility, and the "upgrade" was to undermine its greatest strength in addition to not adding any quality of life improvements like extra firepower, role versatility, or jump range. You also might not have even made a past decision to buy it. They automatically gave out a ton of them for free when that patch dropped.

The cobra MK III is marginally less durable, but it has more agility and a MUCH higher boost speed which is WAY more important for small ships than a bit of extra armor. Especially since it lets you outrun most all opposition in the event that you bite off more than you can chew. On top of that it has great jump range, so you'd actually be able to fly it across the bubble in a combat loadouts to join a PA wing for co-op fun times without having to deal with using a hyperspace taxi and then waiting for FedEx to deliver your combat ship. But wait, there's more. It can also be outfitted as a good entry level explorer or miner to make money on the road to riches or deep core mining.

So in the one corner, we have an S+ class ship that only does everything while being a master of all trades, and Jack of none. While in the other is an overweight bird that can maybe absorb an extra second of laser fire.

I'm trying to help you man. Nothing comes close to ousting the cobra at your price point. If your heart is set on a "dedicated" combat ship, then start saving your money for a Vulture because the multirole cobra is a better combatant than the dedicated viper IV.

I appreciate you trying to help me too! I was just saying there appears to be a very diverse set of opinions on the issue -- I don't have any bias towards or against the ship and definitely didn't before buying one, I just poked around lots of different sources and found a varied opinion set that leaned in the MK IV's direction for my particular needs.

You should understand I'm 100% committed to combat at the moment, and don't want to do any exploring or trading for now until I can get a separate dedicated ship for it on the higher end of the price spectrum (relative to these cheap ships at least). I went from not enjoying the combat in this game at all to absolutely loving it once I tried it with a VR headset and HOTAS, and it's just what I want to do for the time being. I typically play for an hourish every day or two and I've been happy at the pace I'm making money while I just blow up stuff in asteroid belts in VR to relax after work.

Flying with y'all was fun! I hadn't done combat missions in a Wing and it was a blast watching things melt under our combined firepower. Shame the combat contracts are all bugged right now so we missed out on a bunch of free money, but oh well. Hopefully Frontier fixes that soon so that we can make some decent cash while defending the motherland.

You should understand I'm 100% committed to combat at the moment, and don't want to do any exploring or trading for now until I can get a separate dedicated ship for it on the higher end of the price spectrum (relative to these cheap ships at least).

I get that you're dedicated to combat and I'm telling you that the cobra knocks the socks off of the viper mk IV in combat. Speed and agility >>>>>>>>> a few percentage points more armor for a small ship. The fact that the cobra can do so much more is just gravy on top. The viper IV is "dedicated" to combat but is shit at its job.